The End of the Cold War (1084-1090)
  1. some, Richard Nixon, lost face and [[#|power]], still pushed & reinvigorated cold war animosities, zero on communism and USSR, put money into military and proposed Strategic Defense Initiative- protection from nuclear attack
  2. challenge detente and soviets ability to match spending
  3. internal change and soviet union and E Europe helped the most
  4. between 1989-90, nonviolent revolutions, people of E/C Europe gain independence and start Democratic gov. and market-based economy
  5. downfall of communist due to interrelated [[#|economics]] and political developments
  6. Mikhail S. Gorbachev, helped end war, address failing economy and start revolutions from Czechoslovokia- Soviet Union
  7. tried to save Soviet Unions fall by restucting society and liberalizing society- little he could do - collapsed in 1991
Revolutions in Eastern and Central Europe
  1. couldn't connect communism regimes ( in E/C Europe) and socialism- left them weak- born in Moscow and armed by soviet Tanks and Bayonets
  2. many thought they lacked legitimacy- never firmly established
Moscow's Legacies - after war Stalin's "Friendly Gov." might work, conservative political parties lost credibility for not supporting democracy & aiding Nazis
    1. left wing had solid record against germs., Prestige high after helping end war
    2. Nikita Khrushchev's- hopped this might lead to more enlightened communism, - inspired reformers
    3. but they invade Hungary 1956 & Czechosl. 1968- dashes hope for human socialism
Gorbachev's Impact- despite bad economy, arms race with u.s , discontent = rulers to reluctant to confront challenge and help ailing systems
    1. left to Mikhail to remove Soviet Empire & end cold war
    2. made Brezhnev doctrine no longer in force- each county in charge of its own destiny
    3. led to overthrow of regimes in Poland, Bulgaria, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Romania & East Germany
Revolutions in Eastern Europe- the end of communism first came in Poland when pressure was put on the Polish government
    1. the Polish government agreed t multiple party elections in 1989 and 1990
    2. Unrest in Bulgaria forced Todor Zhivkov, longest surviving dictator in Europe, to resign in November 1989
    3. Hungarians broke away from the Soviet style political system in 1988 and moved towards democracy
    4. Czecholslovakia also broke away from communism and formed two new nations- the Czech Republic and Slokakia
    5. Romania set off in a national uprising in 1989 to rid the nation of their dictator who was unwilling to change
    6. Erich Honecker, East Germany's leader, was removed from power when many East Germans moved to other countries
    7. The Berlin Wall was tore down in late 1989 and in 1990 Germany was once [[#|again]] a united nation
The Collapse of the Soviet Union
  1. Gorbachev came to power in 1985 and removed the nation from the cold war to focus on more important matters
  2. He recognized the need form economic reform and the liberalization of Soviet society
Gorbachev's Reforms- the reforms mainly focused on the terrible economy
    1. Obsolete technologies resulted in shoddy products, this was due to all resources going to the military
    2. Insufficient farming resulted in the need to import grains
    3. Infant mortality increased while life expectancy decreased, education systems were worse, and morality decreased
    4. under slogan of uskorenie meaning acceleration, Gorbachev tried to shock the economy
    5. He thought about new kinds of reforms, especially one that opened the society to public criticism
Perestroika and Glasnost
  1. When Gorbachev pushed decentralization profit motive and methods engendered hostility of those whose positions depended on the old system
  2. Many comrades of military objected to perestroika and worked to destroy it
  3. Glasnost opened the door to public criticism of party leaders and Soviet institutions
  4. Long repressed ethnic and naionlist settlements came up posing threats to multiethnic Soviet state
  5. Industrial and agriculture continued to decrease---> Soviet economy disintegrated
  6. Many minorities contemplated secession
  7. in Crimea in August 1991 conspirator group seized power
Toward an Uncertain Future
  1. cold war was actually a comfort- kept U.S and Soviet Union from steeping into vacuum of global leadership- could have been perilous and controlling but instead superpowers contest ordered and defined world for almost 50 yrs
  2. shaped how people perceived themselves ( ex. capitalist fighting communist)- placed constraints on choices open to them- but still familiar
  3. cold war had huge impact in policy-making circles and on the streets
A future without divisions
  1. thought war people complain that Nato and Warsaw alliances promote arms race, could turn local conflicts to nuclear wars between superpowers
  2. after war they praised them for keeping stability
  3. loss of deterrence vs. global disorder and violence was matched by uncertainty on future and declining sense of purpose ( no more ideological struggle)
  4. end of communist in Eastern Europe, Soviet Union and increasing market of People's Republic of China- virtually guaranteed end of communism
  5. - cuba and N Korea hung on but were very weak